Cassette'o'Bot Blues
by enmused
Summary: [G1] Blaster finds a mountain lion cub after a Decepticon attack on the Autobot base at Mt. Saint Hilary. Steeljaw expresses some concerns. Chaos ensues. /Now a one-shot series/
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**

 **Hey everyone! This little short story has been bugging me for awhile now so I decided it was about time to sit down and write it. Hope you guys like fluff! It was actually kind of nice to write something a little less sinister for once. Hopefully everyone is in character!**

 **And as always reviews are appreciated!**

Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers or any of the characters seen in this story except for my my OC seen in the next chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

/Autobot Base - _Mt. St. Hilary, Oregon, 1992_ /

Tired, worn, and weary, the Autobot forces shuffled into the Ark after a devastating battle against the Decepticons. The latest battle had not gone well for the Autobots and many were injured in the Decepticons' brutal attack on their base.

Although they had managed to fend off their bitter enemies and force their leader to call for a strategic retreat, the Autobots were far from calling it a victory.

Three of their own were critically injured; Tracks, Sideswipe and Cliffjumper currently were all under the excellent (if ornery) care of the Autobot's resident medic Ratchet. While Ratchet was busy with the more extensive injuries, Sparkplug was more than able to patch up any other grievances the battle torn 'Bots had obtained.

Over all it hadn't been so bad of a battle, but morale was low after seeing the devastation left on the once scenic mountainside that housed their base – their home.

"Make sure you don't strain that rotary cuff, ya hear me!"

"You got it Sparkplug!" Jazz assured the human mechanic with a cheery wave over his shoulder.

The easygoing mech was grateful for the repairs, don't get him wrong, but he just needed to get out of the med bay. It wasn't necessarily the friendliest place to hang around after a battle –especially with Ratchet going off the rails over whatever stupid injury a bot had received during the fight.

What Jazz really needed just then was a nice cube of high-grade and a couple of pals to hang with.

With that thought in his mind Jazz made his way directly to the rec room where he was sure to find several other bots looking for the same kind of thing.

It was a pretty normal routine for many bots –going to the rec room after a hard fight. And Jazz was sure that today would be no different.

He passed only a few stray mechs as he strolled through the orange halls of the Ark. Upon reaching the rec room, the visored mech was more than little shocked to find the place nearly empty.

Frowning, Jazz walked up to one of the few mechs brooding in the silent room, "Hey, Sunstreaker! What's up mech?" He greeted, smoothly plonking himself down across from the yellow frontliner.

The golden mech leaned back and scowled darkly, "All the bots are out trying to clean up the stupid mountainside."

Jazz tilted his head to one side, "Is that so?" he asked. He hadn't heard anything about a cleanup crew organized, so that had to mean it was voluntary.

"Slaggin' pointless if you ask me." Sunstreaker grumbled, taking a large swig of his high-grade.

Jazz's visor darkened slightly at the complete disinterest shown by the larger mech, but he didn't fault him. Sunstreaker was always moody whenever his twin was injured. It was probably for the best that he left the frontliner alone to drink his concern away in peace.

"Well no mech asked you, so if you don' mind I'll be takin' my leave." Jazz stated cheerily, mock saluting the yellow warrior.

Sunstreaker ignored him and continued boring holes into the seat Jazz had just vacated.

Jazz rolled his optics behind his visor and strolled out of the rec room to make his way outside. He wanted to see what was going on outside.

As soon as the mostly white mech stepped outside he felt the burning noon sun on his armor. Jazz dimmed his visor by a fraction and shrugged his shoulders before making his way around the side of the mountain where he could sense his fellow mechs. While he would never admit it, the rotary cuff Sparkplug repaired was still slightly sore and would likely be stiff for days. Jazz shook his head at himself, that's what he got for trying to use a series of tanks as monkey bars.

"Hi Jazz!" Bluestreak greeted Jazz with a enthused wave, "Whatcha doing out here? I thought you tore your shoulder up. If I had known you were out of the med bay I would have commed you to let you know what we're doing out here -but since I didn't know you were out of the med bay I didn't comm you. I'm glad you found us anyways!"

Jazz smiled at the dirty and dusty sniper, "You betcha Blue! I wasn't gonna let something small like a torn cuff keep me away from the party." The saboteur glanced around, noticing the neat piles of rubble and greenery that had been cleared away.

"What's ever'one doin' out here anyway?" he asked curiously as he took in all the damage done to the mountain side.

It was pretty bad, Jazz noted with regret. The whole side of the mountain reserve had been blasted to bits during the battle and almost all the trees had been burned, broken, or uprooted in one way or another. What once was a beautiful park like area was now not much more than dusty cliff-side.

"We're trying to clean up some of the rubble and replant the trees that aren't too badly torn up." Spike chirped up from behind a large boulder. "Its a lot of work, but I think we can make the place look decent until everything grows back." The young human explained seriously.

"Is tha' anythin' I can do ta help?" Jazz inquired hopefully.

"Nah, I think we were almost done already." The human responded politely.

"Besides it was really easy once everyone started helping. Its really good to know that everyone cares about the reserve so much. I mean, I know that some mechs love nature like Hound and Seaspray, but not everyone really _likes_ it like they do. Not to say that there's anything wrong with that! Sometimes all the dirt and dust can get really annoying but-"

"It's all right Blue, I know what you mean. I'm glad to see how you've fixed up the place." Jazz responded knowingly, placating the young sniper.

"Bluestreak is quite right. It is spark warming to see the mechs come together of their own accord." Optimus put in regally, stepping in from behind the small group.

"Prime!" Jazz stated, instinctively coming to addressing his leader. He was too proud to admit that the huge mech had startled him.

"At ease Jazz." Optimus said, waving a servo. "How are your repairs faring?"

Jazz looked away, ashamed that the gentle leader had seen right through him. "Sparkplug did a dandy job, I'm just a bit sore OP. It'll be fine within the rotation."

The prime didn't look entirely convinced by his third in command's words, but nodded anyways. "That is good. I trust your judgement."

"Hey Prime, I think you might want ta see this!" Hound called from over the other side of the cliff range and interrupting the short lull in the conversation.

The prime looked vaguely interested and turned towards his companions, "Let's go investigate, shall we?" The regal mech asked gently.

Jazz grinned broadly, "Lead the way Prime!"

Optimus nodded curtly and began scaling the side of the mountain with beguiling ease. The saboteur snorted lightly and bent down to offer his human friend a servo.

"Need a lift, little man?"

"Sure thing! Thanks Jazz!" Spike said sincerely as he climbed into the mechs hand. "I was not looking forward to trying climbing all the way up on my own."

Jazz nodded understandingly, "Fair enough." The smaller mech stated before putting simply of his attention into navigating up the mountain side after his leader.

Climbing up to the largish ledge in the mountain the saboteur found Prime, Hound, Blue streak, Smokescreen, Bumblebee, and Blaster with his cassettes.

"Now this is a swinging party!" Jazz said enthusiastically as he placed Spike safely on the ground. "What's going on mechs?" He asked with a slightly more serious tone, crossing his arms and leaning back on a conveniently located boulder.

"Blaster's cassettes found a mountain lion's den!" Bumblebee explained, coming over to stand next to Spike.

"I hope you have not disturbed the wildlife that lives here Blaster." Prime's authoritative voice rumbled deeply, his concern clear.

"I think we're already too late for that, Optimus." Hound stated solemnly, indicating a small broken body half buried in a rock slide. "That's the mother there."

All the Autobots were silent and some could be heard to whisper an 'oh no'. Jazz's mandible clenched tightly at the sight no doubt caused by the battle earlier that morning.

To many it would just be another casualty of war, but for Jazz, every life was precious.

The Decepticons had a lot to pay for.

"Blaster! Blaster! We found a survivor!"

The somber mood was interrupted by the cries of the tape deck cassette bots as the small mechs came racing out of the den with a small something bundled in Eject's arms. Steeljaw followed behind his three siblings at a much more subdued pace.

"Whatcha got there my mechling?" Blaster asked lightly as his cassette approached.

Eject's optics twinkled and Blaster smiled at the sheer elation flooding his bonds with his creations. "It's a cub!" The small blue mechling declared.

"We think it belonged to the deceased mother. There was only one." Steeljaw put in with a low rumble.

Blaster appeared unaffected by the golden quadruped's seemingly insensitive words, but Jazz knew better. Something was obviously bothering Steeljaw, but further than that he had no insight on it. He hoped that Blaster would take care of it.

"Can we keep it? _Pleeeaassseeee?!_ " Rosanna chirped buoyantly -Rewind, Eject, and Ramhorn all quickly joining the chorus of 'pretty pleases' and various forms of begging endearments.

Blaster looked back at the Prime, his hesitation clearly showing in his expression.

Optimus looked thoughtful, considering the squirming bundle of fur and claws still in Eject's servos.

"I don't know Blaster. You would have to be responsible for it. Are you up to the task?" The prime asked seriously.

Blaster was suddenly bombarded by a wave of _'pleases'_ and promises that ' _they would take care of it'_ and _'they'd do all the work'_ through the bonds he had. The red mech risked glancing over his shoulder bolt to see the four sets of wide optics and pouty faces. He never stood a chance.

"Yeah, I'll take full responsibility for the lil' thing." Blaster stated reluctantly, letting his cassettes know through the bond that if they didn't hold up to their end of the bargain there would be severe repercussions.

"Alright then, the lion cub survivor is yours to take care of." Optimus rumbled lightly, smiling underneath his mouth guard at the exuberant cheering coming from the cassette bots.

Steeljaw was strangely lacking the same enthusiasm his brothers and sister shared over the collective success in getting to keep the cub.

His brothers noticed this and came frolicking up to the broody quadruped with the lion cub in servo –its hind legs dangling limply as the tired cub had given up trying to get free.

"Look Steeljaw, it's a mini you!" Rewind exclaimed, taking the cub from Eject and holding it out to his brother, essentially rubbing the cub's underside in Steeljaw's face.

"The organic is clearly _nothing_ like me." Steeljaw growled darkly, getting up and moving so that his face wasn't full of fur.

 _~Steeljaw, behave.~_ His creator warned lightly through the bond.

The golden plated cassette's eyes narrowed and he turned his head away, ignoring his siblings as they cooed and awed at the small cub.

Then their leader's regal voice captured everyone's attention, effectively interrupting whatever spat might have been brewing between the cassette bots.

"Autobots, congratulations on a job well done." Optimus Prime's deep voice rang through the warm spring afternoon. "You are all to be commended for your efforts to restore the reserve. You are all off duty –save for senior officers- for the duration of this rotation."

The huge red and blue leader paused to allow for the brief chorus of cheers coming from his mechs and the low groans of the senior officers in the background. Jazz wasn't all that fussed, really. The groans were just for show as he would likely have kept working off shift anyways.

And by 'work' he of course meant mess around with some of the other officers.

And by 'other officers' he of course meant a certain black and white tactician that refused to take a break unless Jazz was there to force him.

When the cheers died down Optimus dismissed the group with his iconic, "Autobots, roll out!"

Blaster flashed a grin and opened his chest compartment to let his cassettes transform and settle into their creators symbiotic hold.

Ramhorn was first, then Rewind and Rosanna, then Eject who swiftly placed the lion cub next to a disgruntled Steeljaw before also transforming into cassette mode.

With most of his cassettes put away and the rest of the Autobots already vacating the cliff-side, Blaster took the opportunity to address his eldest creation.

"What's bothering you my mech?" Blaster asked lightly, not pushing too hard if his creation did not feel like talking. He had a feeling he already knew what the problem was, but still gave Steeljaw a choice to talk or not.

He always gave his mechs an easy way out when they didn't want to talk, because he respected them. They had grown and matured a lot in the many vorns of war and Blaster treated each of them as their own person. A lot of mechs didn't view his cassettes as fully seperate or even intelligent beings. Blaster did though, he raised them and let them become who they wanted to be and respected their choices as their own.

It was one of the main reasons his cassettes respected him as much as they did.

Because he always respected them.

Steeljaw didn't respond at first, choosing instead to glare at the small cub currently nuzzling into his side. The large golden plated lion stood up abruptly -causing the cub to overbalance and topple into the dust at his four pedes. "I don't particularly see the point in keeping this creature." Steeljaw eventually grumbled, refusing to make optic contact with his frowning creator.

Blaster felt that his suspicions were confirmed in that statement and sat down lightly beside the golden quadruped, patting the space right next to his plating. His eldest creation hesitated for a long moment before succumbing to the strong need to be comforted and climbing onto Blaster's lap and curling up with his faceplate under his large arm.

Blaster smiled, knowing that he was finally getting through to the mech.

Steeljaw loved to pretend he was the tough big brother figure of their small family, but in reality he was just a gentle spark that needed just as much care and attention as any of his other siblings.

"You wanna tell me what's really both'ring ya?" Blaster asked gently, lifting his other servo to caress Steeljaw's pointed audials.

The large golden lion mumbled something into Blaster's side.

The red mech smirked. "Really now. Huh, cause I kinda figured you were just jealous of our new little addition." Blaster stated cordially.

"I'm not jealous!" His eldest creation said firmly, rearing back to glare at his sire. It was short lived though, because as soon as he saw Blaster's amused smirk he knew he'd already given himself away.

Blaster hummed, looking doubtful. "I'm not sure I believe ya, mechling."

Steeljaw groaned and flopped back down on Blaster's lap, earning him a curious mewl from the small cub on the ground beside him.

This time Blaster laughed, his smooth voice chuckling richly as he opened up his chest compartment for the second time that afternoon. "C'mon you, let's go catch up with the others."

Steeljaw sighed dramatically, pausing just long enough to stare down the orphaned lion cub before transforming smoothly and landing in Blaster's hold.

Once all his symbionts had settled the red tape deck stood up and looked at the mewling cub scrabbling at his pedes and smiled as he picked the small creature up and cupped it gently in his servo.

Blaster was sure life was certainly going to get a little more interesting with their new addition.

...But perhaps it wouldn't be a bad thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:**

 **Alright guys here's the next chapter! I just want to thank everyone for the fav's/follows and reviews on this story, they mean a whole lot to me when I'm trying to get my muse on. So thanks!**

 **Also this story may or may not continue as a series of one-shots rather than just a twoshot -if any of you guys have something specific you want to see, go ahead and shoot me a pm or say something in a review!**

 **Now onward! Or as my sister stated so eloquently _"For the love of fluff!"._**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers or any of the characters seen in this story except for my OC's, Dr. Sarnova and the lion cub.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 _/Autobot Base - Medbay/_

"Well everything seems to be in order!" The human wildlife veterinarian stated cheerfully, rubbing the small lion cub's head gently. The cub purred softly, sounding strikingly similar to the sounds some of the autobot's engines made.

"Thank you Dr. Sarnova. Not many are so willing to come under such... unusual conditions." Ratchet thanked the doctor politely -having genuinely enjoyed her presence and competence in her chosen field. He had been understandably hesitant to call in a human doctor, but had also found himself at a loss on how to treat or take care of the orphaned cub.

Spike and Sparkplug had been so kind as to call in a favor from a friend of theirs, hence the doctor's presence.

"Not at all, not at all! It was the least I could do for the Witwicky's and besides, I always wanted to meet the Autobots in person." She explained happily, still playing gently with the lion cub.

"I'm sure that Bluestreak would be more than happy to show you around the Ark." Ratchet suggested, looking pointedly towards the silver grey sniper who just hadn't been able to stay out of the medbay without seeing the lion cub first. The mech shrunk back slightly at Ratchet's hidden warning and waved gently towards the doctor.

"Oh! That would be wonderful!" The vererinarian said excitedly, nearly vibrating where she stood. Oh yes, she and Bluestreak would get along just fine, Ratchet thought wryly.

"But first I would like some kind of instruction on how to continue caring for the cub –if you wouldn't mind, of course." He asked gruffly.

"Absolutely!" Dr. Sarnova responded, not at all phased by the medic's somewhat abrasive demeanor. "In fact, I already had compiled a short list of things you will need to scan for and how to make sure this little gal doesn't get malnourished."

If Ratchet wasn't entirely convinced of her competence before, he most certainly was now.

"That's excellent Dr. Sarnova. I have no doubts that we will be able to manage with your advice." Ratchet stated with respect, taking the small data device from her when she gave it to him.

"I'm sure of it, however if you do have any concerns, feel free to contact me! I would be more than happy to assist in any way I can." She told the red and white medic seriously and he was certain she meant every word.

"Good. We probably will need it, knowing who's responsible for the poor thing." Ratchet responded sarcastically.

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Blaster called out from the corner where he had been watching the proceedings.

"You were supposed to!" Ratchet grouched back despite the tiny tilt to his lips.

Dr. Sarnova laughed outright at that, giggling softly at the two mechs' bantering.

"Well, I think I'm done here for now." The wildlife veterinarian stated coolly, trying not to show how anxious she was to start her tour of the base and failing miserably. Chuckling at herself, she turned to the silver grey sniper, "Bluestreak was it?" she asked somewhat incredulously, noting the curious lack of blue streaks on the mech's armor.

"Yup! Are you ready to go Dr. Sarnova? Do you need any help carrying anything? I know the perfect place to show you first! You'll be able to meet all of the other mechs and some of my friends, not that some mechs aren't my friends. I'm friends with pretty much everyone here, except they say that I talk too much and don't know… when to stop." Bluestreak trailed off at the end realizing that he was rambling and only proving what the other mechs often told him.

The human woman laughed, waving off the mech's formalities, "Please call me Abigail! And yes, I'm ready to go. No, I don't need much help carrying anything. I only have my case anyways. Don't worry about talking too much, I tend to do the same thing when I'm excited." Abigail responded in like kind, blushing softly when she also just proved her point.

Ratchet took over at this point, shooing them out of his medbay, "Yes, well now that you've introduced yourselves, kindly remove your persons from my med bay!"

Quickly getting the message, Bluestreak lowered his servo for the woman to step into.

Abigail hesitated for only a second before climbing into the large, but gentle hand offered her –feeling only slightly strange in doing so. She wasn't afraid of heights at least, so that was a bonus.

As soon as they had exited Ratchet's domain, the irritable medic turned directly to the red tape deck now standing beside the berth with the cub on it.

The cub, after seeming extremely subdued at first, had quickly regained its energy and was now attempting to latch onto Blaster's digits whenever the mech moved them across the metal surface. The cub was more than happy to chase after them and pounce whenever they got close enough. However, the small lion cub was at a slight disadvantage as it slipped and skidded across the smooth metal –its little claws having no traction whatsoever.

Blaster chuckled warmly when the feisty cub managed to latch onto his foremost digit, growling lightly and mouthing the tip of it with tiny fangs.

Ratchet smirked, a tiny, barely noticeably lift to the corner of his faceplates. It was then that Blaster noticed his quiet observer.

"Oh hey Ratch'! Will you look at this cute little guy?"

"Yes, I see. Just don't come complaining to me when it scratches your paint up when its bigger." The medic grumbled lightly.

Blaster just grinned broadly at his words and continued playing with the cub for a few klicks. The cub, although full of energy, was already growing tired from his playing and moving much slower now. It seemed that like any other young creature or being, the cub's energy came in fits and spurts before running completely out.

"We need to find a name for it." Blaster stated suddenly, surprising the medic.

Ratchet paused and frowned, it was hard enough not to get attached to the creature as it was; naming the little thing would only make it harder. "Dr. Sarnova did mention that the cub's sex was female."

Blaster hummed lightly poking his symbionts though the bond.

~ _Any ideas on what to name the little gal?~_

He could feel his creations instantly focus and begin raking their processors before a myriad of names flooded his processor.

 _~Dustbite!~_ That was Rewind.

 _~Simba!~_ Eject.

 _~Starburst!~_ Rosanna.

 _~Littlecub!~_ Ramhorn.

Steeljaw was decisively silent.

Blaster could feel his eldest creation's emotions stewing through bond. Steeljaw was doing his best to hide it, and his siblings probably couldn't feel a thing, but Blaster knew him better than that. Steeljaw was jealous and angry, and he was frustrated at himself for being unreasonable. That knowledge didn't keep him from having those reactions though.

 _~Any suggestions, Steeljaw?~_ Blaster urged gently.

Steeljaw remained resolutely silent.

The rest of his creations were now starting to pick up on their brother's intense emotions, but didn't pry – choosing instead to let their creator deal with it as he no doubt would.

Blaster's eldest creation simply listened in the background as his siblings continued spewing random and absurd names before he'd finally had enough. At this rate they'd end up calling the cub something entirely ridiculous.

~Survivor.~

His siblings suddenly ceased their bickering on what constituted a proper femme name and what didn't.

There was a slight pause as Blaster mulled over the name, saying it out loud to get the feel of it.

"Survivor."

Ratchet glanced up from where he had moved to his workbench to clean his tools while the mech had been focused on his bonds. "What's that?"

"Survivor." Blaster repeated himself gently adjusting his hold on the little cub dozing off in his servo. The poor little thing was all tired out after the events of the day.

The red tape deck smiled sadly at the cub. Life would be very different for her from now on and Blaster could only hope she made the adjustment smoothly.

Ratchet hummed lowly, "It's fitting I suppose." Was all he said in response.

 _~What do you mechs think?~_ Blaster asked his creations through the bond.

He receive a wide variety of affirmatives and feelings of agreement and smiled widely, "Survivor it is then!"

* * *

Survivor slept through most of the afternoon and it was all Blaster could do to keep his cassettes from waking the sleeping cub. Eventually they got bored though and went to the rec room for some much deserved entertainment.

Eject would no doubt commandeer the massive flat screen TV to watch the latest football game –much to the terror twins' disdain. Rewind might try to coerce a few mechs into playing a trivia game that almost certainly would have some kind of gambling involved. Ramhorn would probably hunker down with some mild high grade and stay near one of his brothers. Rosanna likely was playing one of the dress up studio games she was so fond of on her datapad with some sweet en. Blaster himself volunteered to monitor the airwaves since everyone else was off duty.

Steeljaw however... Steeljaw had chosen to stay in Blaster's shared quarters.

He had told the others that he was simply tired and needed some extra recharge and they, for the most part, believed him. Blaster on the other servo, know that his eldest creation was going to brood for the remainder of the evening. He didn't comment on it though, knowing that the golden quadruped needed some time to himself.

He was especially sore because his siblings had confiscated some of his bedding to make a place for the cub to sleep.

And Steeljaw was not about to let it go anytime soon.

His heap of blankets and pillows beside Blaster's berth side were his sanctuary. His co-creations knew that. If any of them so much as touched his nest then he would know and likely fume for days about it.

After Blaster left, Steeljaw picked himself up from where he had temporarily laid down. He couldn't recharge properly without his red fuzzy blanket, which was one of the ones his siblings had unjustly removed from his possession. It was the warmest and softest blanket Steeljaw had and was his favorite blanket.

The large golden lion stalked over to the other corner of the room where the tiny cub was resting, paws tangled in the red blanket. Steeljaw's optics hardened and he grasped a wad of fuzzy blanket in his mouth and yanked it free.

The tiny lion cub went tumbling with a surprised hiss, landing in a sprawled heap of fur and disproportionate paws.

Steeljaw paused, feeling a hint of remorse, and stared at the disgruntled pile of lion cub. The confused cub stared back with wide pale eyes.

Steeljaw's own blue optics narrowed and he snarled suddenly before stalking off, helm held high as the red fuzzy blanket trailed beside him.

Steeljaw took only a moment to situate the blanket back into his nest and arrange it just the way he liked it before curling up contentedly –his helm resting gently on his paws. The golden quadruped vented deeply and snuggled further into the fluffy red blanket, making it so that only his front pedes and helm were peeking out of underneath.

Steeljaw didn't recharge immediately.

His gaze was fixated on the cub several lengths away as the tiny thing tried to get comfortable on the one remaining blanket in the corner. It took a few minutes before the cub finally gave up and plopped down wearily, trying desperately to keep its eyes open. The cub yawned widely and licked its paws before succumbing to sleep once more.

Steeljaw eventually fell into a light recharge while keeping his sensors tuned up on their highest setting.

He never realized that he had fallen into a deeper recharge.

* * *

When Blaster returned to his quarters late that night after Jazz came to relieve him of his duties. Jazz had offered him some of his Protohexian high grade as repayment for taking a shift even when prime had said he was off duty. Blaster had declined politely –much to the other mechs surprise. Usually everyone was trying to get on his good side in hopes that he would share out some of the good stuff.

Blaster just hadn't been interested.

He was more worried about getting home to his cassettes.

Primus knew what sort of trouble they would get themselves into while he was out so late. Especially with Survivor.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't worried that his creations would accidently rough up or damage the tiny addition to their dysfunctional family. He had no doubts that the cassettes would feel absolutely terrible if something happened to the lion cub, but accidents happened.

Giant metal bots had difficulties knowing their full strength when it came to how frail organics were. And his creations were still young enough to get… a little overzealous at times.

~ _Blaster! Hurry! Come quick!~_

Blaster stiffened at the cries coming through the bond. His fears came to the front of his processor as he raced down the orange halls of the ark.

The doors to his quarters couldn't slide open fast enough as the red tape deck barged into his room expecting any myriad of disasters.

What he found left him floored.

Blaster gaped openly at the circle of quietly giggling and cooing cassettes next to his berth pointing towards their elder brother's nest. He carefully walked over to see what the commotion was about just as his creations noticed he had arrived.

 _~Come look at Steeljaw and Survivor!~_

Any remaining wariness Blaster was feeling faded quickly and was replaced with curiosity when he found the bond suddenly flooded with love and sweet mushy feelings.

His four cassettes parted to either side in a small circle around Steeljaw's nest –leaving a big enough space for Blaster to crouch beside them.

What Blaster saw brought a wide smile to his faceplates, his optics softening at the sight.

Steeljaw was curled up and nearly completely covered by his favorite red blanket. That in and of itself was not all that unusual, as the golden quadruped could often be found recharging just so at the base of Blaster's berth. However, what was rather unusual was the small bundle of fur balled up just as close as it could get to the recharging mech.

Survivor must have crawled over to the golden lion while Steeljaw recharged and made herself comfortable. The tiny cub was probably seeking out some kind of heat source, Blaster thought –noticing that the temperatures in his quarters were slightly lower than what the small organic would be comfortable with.

Blaster also got the feeling that the cub might be forming an attachment to his eldest simply because he had a familiar form, metal or not.

 _~Aww… they're so cuuute!~_ Rosanna squealed through the bond, clasping her servos under her helm and bouncing slightly.

Eject and Rewind were equally excited -although for entirely different reasons than their sister. Blaster could tell that they would probably never let this particular piece of blackmail go to waste in whatever schemes they cooked up next. Ramhorn was just standing there impassively, but there was a small well of amusement coming through his end of the bond.

Blaster smiled softly and took a quick photo to save for later.

What surprised him the most was that Steeljaw continued to remain in recharge despite the muffled sounds of his siblings. The red tape deck figured that the poor quadruped was simply exhausted after the battle. He had seen his eldest creation getting into a tussle with Ravage and hadn't thought much of it seeing as the golden lion had little to no visible damages. It made sense that Steeljaw would be low on energy after such activity.

 _~C'mon mechlings, let's get you put away.~_ Blaster told his creations through to bond, so that they wouldn't wake up Steeljaw.

 _~Excuse me? I'm a femme, thank you very much!~_ Rosanna protested hotly, much to the amusement of her brothers.

 _~My apologies, femmling. It won't happen again.~_ Blaster said seriously, chuckling softly when Rosanna pouted at being called a femmling. _~C'mon now, you don't want to wake Steeljaw do ya?~_

All the cassettes groaned through the bond, but obeyed nonetheless.

~Can we 'charge with you tonight, Blaster?~ Rewind asked softly.

Blaster paused, looking down at his creations' pleading optics. His cassettes normally recharged in his symbiont hold, but he couldn't say no to them now anymore than he ever had been able to. Which pretty much was never.

~ _Fine._ ~ the red mech sighed, ~ _But if one of you mechlings decides that 'charging on my faceplates is a good idea then I'll boot all of you. Got it?~_

 _~Yes Blaster!~_ His creations chorused excitedly, all of them eager to be able to recharge outside on their sire's berth.

Blaster couldn't help but be amazed at how easy it was to please his cassettes. They'd had so little during the wartime, but they never complained -always content as long as they were together and safe.

The red tape deck held on to this content welling through the bond as he laid down lightly on his berth. His creations were quick to make their way up and settle down beside him. The twin mechs curled up loosely on either side of his chassis, while their sister sprawled directly on top on him and Ramhorn draped himself over Blaster's pedes.

They were all out within klicks.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:**

 **Look at me go! Another chapter so soon? I'm on fire!**

 **Anyhoo, this chapter isn't as fluffy as I intended and is actually quite angsty. *shrugs* Oh well.**

 **Enjoy! Please don't forget to review!**

Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers or any of the characters seen in this story except for my lion cub.

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 _/Autobot Base – Blaster's Personal Quarters/_

Blaster woke slowly to the comforting sound of soft whimpering cries.

Wait. Something was crying. That was not a good thing.

The red tape deck rebooted his optics, clearing the recharge induced static. However, this did little to improve his vison, as it soon became apparent to him that there was something on his faceplates. Or rather a certain someone.

Blaster frowned and attempted to lift his left servo to remove the obstruction on his helm, but soon found that his servo was also occupied by a certain something. It was then that he remembered letting his cassettes recharge with him last cycle. The crying only increased in the short time it was taking him to get his bearings, this time accompanied with soft scratching noises that sounded suspiciously like claws.

It was at that point that Blaster lifted his other servo, which was thankfully free of an additional body, to remove the someone recharging on his faceplates. Upon further inspection, he was able to identify the bright pink body as Rosanna.

Well then.

Technically, he had said he didn't want one of the mechlings to recharge on his faceplates -not a femme.

Blaster shook his helm and carefully placed the still unawares femmling on the softer pad at the end of his berth. Eject and Rewind had somehow come together while they recharged, linking both of their bodies securely around their creator's entire left arm. Ramhorn had remained at his pedes, although the main part of his body was now propping up one of Blaster's pedes while the other was tucked firmly under the metal rhino's chin.

The red tape deck would have been content to just lay there with his cassettes while they recharged, but the steadily increasing whimpers and whines urged him otherwise.

Blaster sighed, and began to carefully untangle himself from his creations recharging grips without waking them. Ramhorn was first as he gently pulled his pedes out from underneath the larger cassette. Then came the twin mechlings.

They would be a little more difficult to remove.

While he could probably just carry them around on his arm –Primus knew their grip was tight enough- Blaster did not want to have to deal with the resulting clumsiness from the extra weight. It was like having a very large, very heavy bracer that just happened to be made of your children.

Ever so carefully, Blaster started prying the twins off, gently breaking the link where they were connected with their legs intertwined. Once that was done, it was simply a matter of pulling them off one at a time and setting them back down on the berth.

Eject came off easily and promptly curled up with his thumb in his mouth –a habit that the youngest cassette had never really let go of. Rewind was proving to be slightly more difficult to remove, as every time Blaster had just about gotten him pulled free the mechling would lunge back onto his appendage.

"C'mon now mechling…" Blaster grumbled lowly as he struggled to remove the clingy cassette from his arm.

Eventually, Blaster did get him free with no small amount of patience. In the end, the task required some underhanded finagling to trick the recharging cassette into latching onto his brother rather than his creator's arm.

The two twins subconsciously curled into each other and their sire ran a quick servo over both their helms before sliding gently off the berth.

The whimper sounds were coming from the small lion cub curled into Steeljaw's side. The cub was apparently still asleep and having a nightmare, judging from the way her paws twitched and kicked against the golden quadruped's side –the blankets long since pushed away.

Blaster could tell that Steeljaw would wake at any moment if the fuzzy movements in the bond were anything to go off of. He wasn't sure how his eldest would react to the kicking and crying cub in his nest of blankets.

More likely than not, Steeljaw would find the disturbance… untoward.

Especially since the golden lion had shown no desire to accept the cub into their family any time soon.

It worried Blaster that Steeljaw refused to tell him exactly what was wrong. He knew that his eldest was jealous, but further than that Blaster was unsure. Since he made a point not to go digging around in his bonds with his creations, allowing them a certain amount of privacy, Blaster couldn't label exactly _why_ Steeljaw was so jealous of the small cub.

The red tape deck was a patient mech –to a point. He would wait it out until Steeljaw told him, or he figured it out himself. Until that point in time, Blaster would do his best to keep the peace.

Moving silently, the mech crouched down beside his berth and ever so carefully picked the cub up with large flat digits.

Blaster shifted quietly and sat back down on his berth, cautious not to wake his other cassettes, and leaned back on the wall next to the slab so that he was semi-upright.

"Shhhh… little Survivor, you don't want to wake your brothers and sister now do ya?" Blaster hummed softly to the tiny cub.

It was more a rumbling noise than words really, it was whispered so lowly, but it seemed to calm the cub instantly so Blaster continued.

"You have a big day ahead of you," Blaster said as he gently stroked the cubs back with a single digit, "I'm sure that everyone is gonna want ta get a look at ya."

Survivor purred loudly and began roughly nuzzling Blaster's digit with her head whenever he paused in his stoking.

Blaster chuckled at the tiny cub's demanding and rubbed behind her ears –causing the insistent creature to explode into an even louder set of purring rumbles.

Unbeknownst to the red tape deck, Steeljaw had woken up some few kilicks ago. However, he had chosen not to alert his sire of his awareness and had dampened the bond while he listened to the mech coddle the organic lion cub.

Jealously ran rampant through the golden quadruped's spark, a hot burning thing that could not be controlled. The sound of the organic imposter's demanding purrs and his creator's soft whispers and chuckles were grating to Steeljaw's sensitive audios. To him, it felt like proof of what he thought the moment his siblings compared him to the creature.

Steeljaw would not lie around while he was replaced by this organic filth.

He had had enough.

With a low snarl, the golden lion stalked out of Blaster's quarters –his end of the bond bursting open with jealous rage and disgust and terrible sense of abandonment before cutting off entirely.

Blaster reeled back in the berth at the strength of his eldest creation's emotions as the door slid shut with a resounding thud.

The turmoil in the bonds between the two was enough to waken the other cassettes, who all instantly noticed Blaster's intense worry and confusion.

 _~Sire, what's wrong?~_ Ramhorn was the first to ask. He received no response.

 _~What's going on?~_ Eject and Rosanna pleaded, the bond feeling tense and chaotic. They could all feel that Steeljaw had closed his end of the bond, but none of them knew why.

 _~Blaster, where is Steeljaw?~_ Rewind asked seriously, his emphatic tone the calmest of them all.

Blaster was silent, frantically trying to get his eldest creation to open the bond back up and receiving no reply. Not even an acknowledgement. Nothing.

They had, as all family units have at some point, fought before –but never like this. This wasn't even really a fight. Blaster didn't know what to call this.

Usually when one of his creations was upset with him they might try to block off their end of the bond, but never entirely. There was always enough connection that Blaster would know that they were safe or that he could find them if he wanted. That wasn't the case this time.

Steeljaw had completely cut himself off from his creator and all his siblings.

"I—ah, I don' know mechling." Blaster said quietly after a while, his optics not quite in focus.

Eject attempted to laugh nervously and failed miserably. "Heh, he probably just went to blow off some steam. He'll come back in a while, right?"

 _~Right?~_

The unanswered question echoed through the bond, his creations seeking reassurance. Blaster wasn't sure he had any to give them.

* * *

 _Two days later…_

Blaster was quiet at his monitor station.

There was none of his usual music blaring, no loud chatting with the mechs on duty with him, no easy grin he would sometimes get when speaking through his bonds. It was a strangely solemn shift and it was making the mechs uneasy.

By now, most of the ark's crew had realized that something was going on with Blaster and his cassettes. They were a tight knit group, and when something was bothering one of their own everyone was sure to hear about it.

The lion cub sitting on the console in front of the red tape deck was licking herself lazily, her tail flicking back and forth at relaxed intervals.

Survivor had acclimated well to her new lifestyle, following Blaster around everywhere -usually to find someplace to curl up and sleep. The small cub seemed to enjoy all the warm surfaces of machinery that could be found inside the ark, occasionally finding some random mech to huddle up to.

For most of the mechs it was a huge boon and there were bragging competitions around the ark on who the lion cub liked best. Some mechs had found the cub to be something of a celebrity -making any excuse they could to get on the same shift as Blaster.

Because where ever Blaster was, Survivor was sure to follow.

It was also why everyone seemed to notice the tape deck's change of mood so quickly.

That was also about the same time that a few mechs began to notice a distinct absence of Steeljaw when all the other cassettes would be playing with the lion cub.

In fact, very few mechs had seen head or tail of the golden quadruped since his organic counterpart's arrival.

Most mechs wouldn't make the correlation between the two seemingly unrelated topics.

However, Sideswipe was not most mechs.

That's why Sideswipe had volunteered to work the same shifts as Blaster the klick he was cleared for active duty -something that mostly involved annoying the slag out of Ratchet until the medic was so fed up he kicked the red Lamborghini out of the med bay.

So far his plan wasn't going nearly as well as he had intended.

After nearly two joors of attempting to strike up a conversation with the sullen stereo mech, Sideswipe was at his wit's end. Every single time he said something to the mech, Blaster would either grunt or ignore him entirely. It was almost as bad as trying to deal with his twin when he was in a mood!

By now both mechs were done with their shift and just waiting for the next two mechs to come and take their places. It was Sideswipe's last chance to try and figure out what was going on between Blaster and Steeljaw.

The door to the monitor station slid open with a soft whoosh, revealing Red Alert and the cassette twins Rewind and Eject.

Blaster's optics dimmed as his two cassettes questioned him through the bond.

 _~Did you find him?~_

 _~Was there any sight of Steeljaw?~_

Blaster could feel their worry in addition to his own flooding through the bond. Rather than respond directly through the bond the red tape deck simply shook his helm sadly. His cassettes deflated instantly.

~ _We'll find him Blaster, don't worry.~_ Eject soothed, sending encouragement and love through the bond.

~ _Steeljaw can't hide forever, he'll come out when he's ready.~_ Rewind added solemnly, doing his best to put up a strong front for his creator.

There was a brief shadow of a smile on Blaster's face when he looked down at his cassettes.

"Okay, mechs." He said softly, echoeing their feelings of encouragement through the bond. "Lem'me know if you see 'im, 'kay?"

The twinlings nodded exuberantly before making their way to their assigned console. Blaster smiled again, his time more genuinely. His creations gave him so much more then he deserved when he brought them into the war with no say in the matter. He cared for them more than anything else in the universe and it broke his spark that they had to go through so much.

Steeljaw...

Steeljaw just needed some time to come around.

That's what Blaster kept telling himself. Thats what he had to keep telling himself.

The red tape deck vented heavily and exited the monitor room, Survivor padding along softly behind him. The other mechs just shrugged at each other when Sideswipe slipped out of the monitor room after Blaster.

Sideswipe's processors were quick to piece together what he'd just witnessed and what he already knew, rapidly coming to a series of conclusions. Most mechs didn't give him enough credit when it came to how much processor power it took to plan and strategize the stunts and pranks he pulled off on a daily basis. He was easily just as formidable of a tactician as Prowl.

That just wasn't really something the red Lamborghini wanted every one to know.

But it was very clear to Sideswipe that Steeljaw was sulking and that it had something to do with the organic cub.

Now he just had to figure out how to fix it.

* * *

 **Oh dear, this can't be good.**

 **I wonder what Sideswipe has got planned for our poor cassette'o'bot family?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Everyone!  
I know its been awhile since I last updated, so I wont't take too long!  
** **First of all I just want to say thank you to all of the beautiful people who fav, followed, and/or reviewed this story! Only three chapters and I have well over 400 unique views! I have never been so excited about a story as this!**

 **I also got around to drawing a cover for the story! If you didn't see it, you can find it here:** **http*:/enmused*.*tumblr*.*com*/post*/1263*89959094*/  
** **Just remove all of the asterisks!**

 **And now for the super fluffy chapter of doom! Please remember to keep reviewing!**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers or any of the characters seen in this story except for my lion cub.

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 _/Autobot Base – Unknown/_

Steeljaw curled up tighter around himself, trying to get more comfortable. His energon levels were starting to drop down lower than he would normally be comfortable with, but he refused to move from his spot in the ventilation shafts.

The golden quadruped shifted once more.

He missed his fuzzy red blanket.

It got rather cold in the Ark's ventilation shafts.

But if he was really being honest with himself, he would have admitted that he missed his siblings –annoying as they were. Or that he missed the long night shifts curled up at Blaster's pedes. Or the deep theoretical conversations he would sometimes get into with Gears and Huffer in the rec room.

Steeljaw however, was not being very honest with himself in the moment.

He was still stubbornly holding onto the anger and jealousy he felt towards the squishy lion cub. He knew that the cub had done nothing wrong, but he also knew that it didn't belong in the Ark with a bunch of autonomous robotic beings from another world.

It was just asking for trouble.

Steeljaw vented heavily and rested his helm on his forepedes.

He could feel Blaster trying to get through the bond again. His sire had never given up trying to get through to him. It was endearing to a point, and after that it just made Steeljaw feel guilty. So he stopped paying attention.

He didn't want to feel guilty.

He had every right to feel angry.

Didn't he?

His HUD pinged with a small blinking light in the corner of his vision.

 **Attention: Energon levels at 59 percent.**

59 percent was obviously not a critical level –Steeljaw had been able to fully function at less than 20 percent in a battle zone and come out relatively fine, so he wasn't really all that worried.

Still, he knew he couldn't hide forever.

Steeljaw still didn't move.

What had once been anger and burning jealousy had slowly simmered down into something far more forced. Steeljaw growled lowly, feeling the rage and resentment fade into embarrassment.

Here he was hiding from his creator like a spoiled sparkling.

Was this really how he was going to deal with this? The organic wasn't even sentient; why shoud he be jealous of it?

Steeljaw glanced at his internal chronometer on his HUD and vented harshly. There really was no point to this.

Steeljaw was just about to get up and make his own way out of the ventilation shafts when a series loud bangs startled him to his pedes with a surprised yowl.

"Hey Steelie, you up there?"

Oh great. It was Sideswipe. Steeljaw hissed lowly, knowing that the red terror twin would not leave him be until he got what he wanted.

"Will you please cut out that infernal racket?" The golden quadruped complained in his lightly accented tenor, "It's disrupting my audio receptors."

"Oh hey, you are up there!" Came Sideswipe's suprised voice, follwed by a mumbled something along the line of 'I didnt expect that to work'.

Steeljaw snorted, "Clearly. Now are you going to let me down or not?" the golden quadruped asked, indicating the grill that the red mech was standing in front of. The temptation to reach out and bat at the lamborghini's helm was quickly surpressed.

The red mech stepped aside to allow the cassette bot to crawl out of the ventilation shaft, something that Steeljaw attempted to do as regally as he could considering he was crawling out of a vent.

He landed gracefully on the ground beside the mech with a light thump. He was more than a little surprised to see that Sideswipe was on his own in the small maintence corridor. It did, however, relieve Steeljaw a little that he was the only one to have found his hiding spot.

"Sooo..." Sideswipe started cautiously, "What's up with you and Blaster?" and ended as bluntly as ever.

Steeljaw glared coldly at the cherry red mech for a long moment. What did he even know about his relationship with Blaster?

"Look, I know its none of my buisness, but everyone's starting to worry about him and I thought it might have something to do with you and well, you know." Sideswipe tried to explain and defend himself at the same time.

"You're right; it is none of your buisness." Steeljaw hissed tightly, his vocals like ice. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, there are other matters that require my attention."

And with that left hanging in the air Steeljaw stalked down the corridor and left Sideswipe standing there as he headed towards the rec room. If he was right, then everyone would be on their mid-cycle shifts and the rec room should be empty of anyone he wanted to avoid. Namely Blaster.

The golden quadruped vented lightly at the inconspicuous pedefalls coming from behind him. It appeared that Sideswipe was not going to give up as easily as he had hoped.

Steeljaw's icy blue optics narrowed dangerously as he continued down the hall.

Instead of focusing on his follower, the golden quadruped found himself caught up in a particular selection of smells. Most noticeably, the pungent scent of what could only be the organic lion cub.

It was highly likely that nobody could even smell it other than him, much less notice it.

Steeljaw's disgruntled state only continued to increase as he got closer to the rec room and the scent only seemed to get stronger the further along he went. The small sensitive plates around Steeljaw's olfactory sensors crinkled up in disdain. It was disgusting –strong and musky smelling and entirely organic.

The rec room had only a sparse few bots in it, all of which were focused on a tiny hissing form on the center table.

It was obvious that the organic cub was not at all pleased by the group of mechs leering over the table with awes and coos of fascination.

Steeljaw snorted silently with disgust at their obscene displays of affection.

It was unnatural.

The gold quadruped snuck into the rec room with his helm held high, his demeanor lofty and uncaring as he made his way over to the energon dispenser. He just wanted to get out of there before anyone noticed him. It was highly likely that his creator would be somewhere nearby if the organic was here.

And then Sideswipe happened.

"Heeeyyyy, Steeljaw! What are you doing here?" The cherry red Lamborghini's tone was loud and caused the two to instantly become the center of attention.

Steeljaw froze, his metal hunches stiffening and the plates raising aggressively as he glared coldly at Sideswipe.

"Getting energon," The cassette responded through gritted denta.

"Aww, hey now mech, don't be like tha!" Jazz spoke up from where he was leaning casually on the table edge with the squishy cub. "Where ya been hidin' mech? Blasta's been worried sick 'bout ya." He asked after taking a sip of his own cube of energon.

Steeljaw looked away, feeling the near constant prodding through his bonds.

"I've been around." He responded simply.

Jazz crossed his arms, "Around?"

The golden quadruped was silent as he pushed the button on the dispenser to pour his energon. "I fail to see how this concerns you." He hissed lowly.

The saboteur laughed darkly at this, "Listen here now," The mech set his cube on the table and crouched down so that he was optic to optic with the gold lion, "I don' know what's goin' b'tween you an Blasta', but you better get it sorted, 'cause everyone 'round here can tell somethin' not right. Blaster an' me go way back, ya see, way before you were ever around, and Ah don' like seeing my best bud so glum because of whateva petty feud you have with 'im."

Steeljaw's glare slowly wilted as Jazz continued, his pointed audios lowering as the mech's words rang true. He felt like a scolded sparkling, and it many ways he supposed he deserved it. He was acting like a sparkling after all.

Hesitantly, Steeljaw opened up his bond and felt his creator and all his siblings instantly flooded through the connection.

 _~Steeljaw!~_

The golden quadruped couldn't help the small smile on his face when he felt his family unit all pushing through the spark deep connection they shared.

 _~Hi guys.~_ Steeljaw responded sheepishly. ~ _Blaster?~_ he asked softly, almost a whisper through the bond.

~ _I'm coming.~_ Was the near instant response from his sire, accompanied by a pulse of concern and love.

Steeljaw returned the feeling of love, followed by a jumbled concoction of apologies and anxiety.

Jazz watched on with a small smirk, the golden cassette's every emotion currently on display while he was deep in his bonds. He had contacted Blaster the klick he had seen the metal lion enter the rec room, and was pleased that he had been able to get through to Steeljaw while his longtime friend made his way over.

With a short public comm to the other mechs in the rec room, Jazz was able to quickly clear the room. He knew that both Steeljaw and Blaster would appreciate the privacy.

Sideswipe was one of the last to clear out and winked subtly at the saboteur. Jazz gave a small nod of acknowledgement, his blue visor glinting. The red twin had given him a private communique earlier to let him know what he had found out, and the two were quickly able to form a plan to get things straightened out between Blaster and his creation.

The entire thing had panned out exactly as they had planned.

Jazz had just walked out of the doorway when Blaster came around the corner, his pedes carrying him as fast as they could without looking like he was running.

"Heya mech! How's it hanging?" The saboteur asked jovially, somehow slinging an arm around the taller mech despite his helm only reaching his chest plates.

Blaster smiled at his friend, knowing that Jazz meant well, but all he really wanted was to see his eldest creation.

"I'm doin' okay. Thanks for lettin' me know that 'Jaw had shown up." He was sincere, but it was clear that he desperately wanted to just get to the rec room.

Jazz nodded, "It's okay, mech. The kid's got some issues, but its nothin' you can't sort out. Go get 'em." The saboteur clapped the red tape deck on the shoulder, "By th'way, the little Survivor is in there too."

Blaster's face darkened with a conflicted emotion that only a parent could understand, leaving Jazz somewhat in the dark.

"Thanks again, Jazz. I'll let ya' know whats going on later, 'kay?" Blaster said as he approached the rec room door.

Jazz grinned broadly, "It's a deal, mech. I'll bring the highgrade!"

Blaster chuckled quietly as the saboteur sauntered off and turned towards the rec room door.

Steeljaw had gone silent through the bond, but it was still wide open for him to feel his creation's emotions. What he felt troubled him.

When he entered the rec room he didn't see anything at first. Then he saw Survivor come padding softly up to his pedes and rub her head against the sharp corner, purring madly the entire time. Absent mindedly, Blaster picked the she-cub up and cradled the tiny thing in his servo.

"Steeljaw?" The tape deck called out softly, simultaneously calling through the bond as well.

Steeljaw hesitated for half a klick before responding, and crawled out from underneath a table.

He looked up at his creator timidly, and couldn't hide the way his optics narrowed sharply when they landed on the cub. He was of half a mind to leave, to walk out right then and there and go back into hiding.

He didn't though.

He couldn't.

Not when he saw the expression on Blaster's faceplates. Not when he could feel the worry and concern ebbing through the bond like a sieve.

The golden quadruped stood stock still, staring -waiting until he was noticed.

"Steeljaw?" His creator repeated, optics scanning the room briefly before landing on the gold cassette.

Survivor was unceremoniously deposited on the floor as the much larger mech fell to his knee bolts to embrace the other felinoid. "Oh Steeljaw." Blaster whispered softly as he cradled the cassette.

Steeljaw normally would be struggling to free himself, but this time he let himself be coddled -secretly enjoying all the attention. It wasn't often that he got to be the sole focus of his creator, not with four other siblings to look after.

"I'm sorry, Blaster." Steeljaw stated after a few klicks in his sire's arms.

Blaster shook his head firmly, "No, I should be the one ta apologize. I should never have left any room for you to think you were being replaced and I'm sorry for that."

Steeljaw was quiet, going still in the red mech's arms. Blaster continued, "I don't want you ta ever think that I replaced you with anyone else, understand? You will always be my creation and no one else can take your place."

"Then why are you treating that organic cub like... like one of us!" Steeljaw exploded, jerking away roughly to glare at his creator.

The bond between the two became strained; full of anguish and betrayal on Steeljaw's end, and pained concern and confusion on Blaster's.

"Because she is one of us. Survivor needed a family unit to look afta her 'til she's big enough to survive on her own." Blaster explained, his optics desperately searching for understanding in his creation's. "But she isn't one of you. She's a part of our family, not a replacement for any of its members."

A long tense moment passed.

"If it'll make ya feel better, I can ask around and see if any of the other mech's would be willin' ta take the cub." Blaster offered, completely sincere.

Steeljaw's tense form sudenly went completely slack and he was no longer able to hold on to his anger with his creator. He felt extremely silly now and more than a little ashamed of his little pity party.

"I'm so sorry." Steeljaw repeated his earlier statement, only this time he was much more sincere.

Before he had just been sorry for making such a big scene and getting caught out in his tantrum. Now he was really sorry for making Blaster worry, for acting like such a sparkling over a simple misunderstanding. Steeljaw trembled slightly.

Blaster just clutched his creation closer to him, shushing him gently. "Shh, shhh… It's okay mechling. It's okay. We're good now. It's okay."

Steeljaw just let himself be held, relishing the close contact with his creator.

The bond felt calm, tranquil even, after the previous turmoil that had rolled through it in waves. There were pulses of love and apologies tinged with remorse, but most of all there was understanding and reassurance.

After a short moment Steeljaw pulled away with a mischievous glint in his optics, "You smell." He stated coolly.

Blaster laughed, his creation would never change, "I s'pose Ah probably do."

At that moment, the other small occupant of the room decided it would be an opportune time to come up to the much larger mech and yowl meaningfully. Blaster glanced down at Survivor as she started rubbing up against the side of his leg.

There was a short pause where Blaster didn't react –waiting to see what Steeljaw would do. The small cub yowled again, this time more demandingly.

Steeljaw felt the miniscule stiffening in his creator's frame and his audials flicked slightly. It hurt a little that Blaster would be so anxious around the two. He may not have really liked the tiny thing very much, but he would never hurt it.

Steeljaw's olfactory sensor crinkled slightly as he glanced down at the organic cub with narrowed blue optics.

"It appears to be a very demanding creature." Steeljaw noted, his accented tone drawing the cub's attention to himself.

"You have no idea." Blaster chuckled, his frame relaxing. "And here Ah thought earth felines were s'posed to be self-sufficient."

Steeljaw's cool glare was now focused on his creator, feeling the light jest he was making through the bond at his own frame's feliniod appearance.

"Aw, c'mon mechling, don't be such a sourpuss!" Blaster teased with a grin as Steeljaw moaned and covered his helm with his forepedes even as Survivor tried to clamber up to join him in Blaster's lap.

Steeljaw stiffened as the small cub scrabbled up beside him, but otherwise didn't react. Blaster could feel the quiet resigned irritation through the bond, but it was nothing like the raging jealousy from before. It was a start at least, and that was good enough for Blaster.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone!**

 **Sorry for not really having an update schedule lately but this story isn't really one I planned on updating regularly. So yeah, I probably will leave this story here for awhile and come back whenever I need to write something really fluffy to improve my mood. Oh and, short chapter. Sorry.  
I will be devoting most of my writing efforts to m new story, _Always,_ so please check that out if you want! Its Starscream centric and not so fluffy at all, but I am still hopeful people will be interested in it.**

 **Oh and if there is anything anyone really wants to see happen in this story, or wants a specific 'bot to make an appearance; do let me know! You might just give me the inspiration I need!**

 **Thank you everyone for all of your reviews, they are amazing and you have no idea how good it feels that people actually _like_ what I write. Best feeling ever. So thank guys and keep it up! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers or any of the characters seen in this story except for my lion cub._

* * *

 _/Autobot Base – Blaster's Quarters/_

For the first day after Steeljaw had come out of hiding he had primarily stayed in the seclusion of Blaster's quarters. He enjoyed the familiarity of the small, but homey, room he lived in with the rest of his family unit. It had been really nice to curl up in his nest of blankets and just enjoy the small sounds of his siblings as they bickered playfully until late into the evening.

He had been sour at first because their shared quarters were permeated with the organic cub's scent. It was a sickeningly sweet musk of a smell, one that Steeljaw had come to recognize far too easily. The only thing that had stayed his complaints was that his own private nest area had been untouched.

That didn't stop him from complaining anyways.

His siblings had spent several hours questioning him and harassing him over being such 'sourpuss' as they now insisted on calling him every time he made the faintest expression of his annoyance. Eventually though they eased up on their light-sparked hazing and were content to spend their time quietly, enjoying their elder brother's company.

There was just one thing that they didn't fully understand yet.

"Hey Steel'?" Rewind piped up suddenly from where he sat on Blaster's berth playing a card game with the others.

Steeljaw was suddenly wary, feeling the subtle scheming through his brother's bond with the rest of his siblings. "Yes Rewind, what is it?"

"Why did you run away?"

Steeljaw didn't answer at first responding with an indignant, "I did not run away."

The golden quadruped shifted around his red fuzzy blanket, feeling all too clearly the four pairs of optics looking at him with varying degrees of disbelief.

"What!?" Steeljaw asked sharply, feeling his faceplates heat slightly.

There was a collective ' _Uh huh'_ that echoed through the bond and Steeljaw wished that he could just crawl the rest of the way under his blanket and hide forever.

"Are you gonna tell us what really happened between you and sire?" Eject asked plaintively,

"Or are we gonna have to blackmail it out of you?" Rosanna added afterwards, threatening him lightly even though they all knew that the pink cassette couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it –much less long enough to use it as blackmail.

Ramhorn was quiet in the background, observing his siblings stoically. His end of the bond was filled with just as much curiosity, although he was more patient towards the matter.

Steeljaw listened to their silent pleas, before he decided that there was no point in dragging this farce on any longer than he had too. It was pointless and absurd. He was the eldest sibling, so it stood to reason that he should be the responsible figure his siblings looked up to and as of late he had been anything but.

He owed it to them.

"I…" Steeljaw vented heavily, "I thought…" He couldn't get the words out.

He wasn't angry anymore –at least not at them, and certainly not at Blaster. He was angry at himself for letting himself get so caught up in his emotions. For actually letting himself believe that he was being replaced by an organic cub.

It was absurd.

Absolutely. Completely and totally ridiculous.

But if it was so absurd of an idea, why did he still feel the way he did?

Ramhorn sent gentle waves of reassurance through the bond, being the first to really catch onto the true meaning of his brother's feelings. He might not have been as smart as the others might be, but he could read them all better then even Blaster.

~ _We would never replace you Steeljaw.~_ The second eldest cassette stated plainly through the bond, not leaving any room for doubt.

The others all echoed the sentiment, instantly picking up on what could not be verbalized even through the bonds they shared.

 _~We couldn't even if we tried,~_ Rosanna put forward thoughtfully. ~ _Nothing could replace you_ –you're our brother, Steeljaw.~ The pink femme summed up softly, conveying all the cassettes feelings towards the golden cassette.

"Yeah! We're stuck with you no matter what!" Rewind piped up loudly.

Somehow, during the duration of the inner conversation over their bond, all of the cassettes had climber down from Blaster's berth to cuddle up beside Steeljaw. Both Eject and Rewind were draped around him from behind, while Ramhorn curled up beside him and Rosanna huddled close to his helm.

Steeljaw didn't know how he hadn't noticed them before, but it was… nice.

"Hmmm…" Steeljaw hummed darkly, "I suppose that means I am stuck with you lot as well, doesn't it?"

Eject thumped lightly on his brother's back with his servo, "You better believe it!"

Steeljaw smiled slightly at that, shifted slightly to get more comfortable with the additional frames pressing into him before placing his helm on his forepedes.

-/-/-

Blaster vented heavily as he trudged down the orange plated halls of the ark after his shift ended. Survivor was cupped ever so carefully in one servo –curled up and purring quietly.

It had been a long cycle and the red tape deck was completely worn out.

There had been a minor scuffle on a routine patrol with Tracks and Jazz earlier in the day and while they had managed to escape without any noticeable injuries -a few scorch marks and a dent in his side- Blaster's frame ached and felt like lead.

It had been a long day for the tiny lion cub in his servo as well from what he had heard.

Blaster had left Survivor with Bluestreak for the duration of his shift and he apparently had let Sideswipe get ahold of the cub with the ill-conceived notion of giving the poor thing a bath.

Needless to say, they were missing a bit of paint on their servos.

However, Blaster did have to give them credit where credit was due –the cub smelled distinctly better after their attempts.

Blaster hoped that it might ease Steeljaw just a little bit from the tension he was still feeling towards the lion cub. His eldest cassette did his best to hide it, tolerating the cub whenever he had too, but for the most part Steeljaw still avoided the Survivor most of the time.

But Blaster was too tired to think about all that right now.

All he wanted was to be in his quarters with his cassettes and get some much needed recharge.

The doors slide open with a soft whoosh of air and Blaster carefully snuck inside, suddenly aware of how late at night it was.

Then he saw the ungraceful pile of his creations on the floor.

His ungraceful pile of cassettes.

He hadn't seen them recharge together like that since the beginning of the war. They had grown apart somewhat as they matured, and while it pained him, Blaster understood that war was an ugly thing.

Every battle held the possiblity that one of them might not come out of it alive.

They fought to protect, because they didn't know what else to do. They'd been fighting for so long that they didn't know how to stop, and didn't know what to do if they did.

It was reassuring to see them coming back together and staying closer to each other. If Blaster had learned anything throughout the vorns he'd been fighting, family was the most important thing. Because if you had no one to fight for, who would fight for you?

Earth, it seemed, and its inhabitants had reminded him of that. Reminded all of the Autobots really.

They had been fighting for so many millennia that for many, family is all they had left to fight for. And you have to know what your fighting for if you want to win.

Speaking of reminders, Blaster answered a comm that he hadn't noticed up until now. He had several messages blinking on his HUD, but he forgoed looking at them in favor of answering the comm coming through.

-Heya Blaster! What took ya so long? Ah was 'bout ready ta come bust you'r door down if ya didn' answer my call again!- Jazz's smooth voice filtered through his helm.

Blaster smirked slightly and shook his helm at his friend's concern even though he knew Jazz couldn't see him.

-Sorry 'bout that mech, I was ah bit distracted.- He responded calmly, stooping down to gently nudge Survivor off of his servo and into the cubs makeshift bed.

Jazz snorted, an abrupt sound accompanied by an amused/disbelieving glyph,

-Distracted? Distracted mah aft! Unless you somehow spirited a secret femmefriend down from Cybertron, there ain't nothin' to be distracted by at this time o' night!-

Blaster chuckled interally at that, -Nah, nothin' like that Jazz. You know me, I jus' got caught up thinkin' 'bout some things."

-Oh really?-

Blaster smiled and sent the mech a quick snapshot of his cassettes all recharging in their respective mountain of mechlings and one femmeling bodies.

-Aha, Ah got it.- There was a slight pause. -Ya should be proud of 'em Blaster.- Jazz stated solemnly, with an additonal glyph signifying the strong familal bonds between a sire and his creations.

-Yeah,- Blaster said, -I'm really proud o' them. All of them.-

There was a short lull between the two longtime friends and comrades, the static of the open comm line crackling occasionally. It was a comfortable silence.

-Ya wanna come over ta my place and have that chit-chat Ah mentioned?- Jazz offered after a while, his tone sincere.

-I just might take you up on that Jazz.- Blaster answered, -I don' want ta disturb them if I can avoid it.-

The sabeteur laughed, -You're nothin' but a big softie, mech!-

Blaster flashed the other mech with a glyph of mock annoyance, but in reality he was grinning at his friendly light-sparked teasing.

-Ah already got teh highgrade warmed up, so don't take your time.- Jazz stated, cutting the comline on his end with a glyph of relaxation/cameraderie.

Blaster spared one last glance at his creations before he left his quarters, taking a second glance when he saw that Survivor had crawled over the others and positioned herself practically underneath Steeljaw's helm between the folds of his favorite red blanket. The tape deck considered for a moment picking the lion cub up and putting her back in her own pile of blankets, but decided in the end it probably wouldn't do much good if she moved right back over.

In the end, he just shook his helm and left them as they were.

Hopefully Steeljaw wouldn't mind smelling like rose scented cleanser.


End file.
